


A Star to Steer by

by RaccoonBlues



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Academy Era, Gen, Jim loves space, Special training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 18:45:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4636176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaccoonBlues/pseuds/RaccoonBlues
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The silence and loneliness could eat away at a person.  It could create a maddening sadness that settled deep into a person’s bones and gnaw away at their soul.</p><p>But, the stars were beautiful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Star to Steer by

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a documentary awhile back about Antarctica and it sounded like the perfect training for life on a starship.

The stars were beautiful here. 

They were so clear and bright, an ocean of lights just waiting to be explored.  The weather was frightful, blistering cold, howling winds, and of course mountains of snow.  The silence and loneliness could eat away at a person.  It could create a maddening sadness that settled deep into a person’s bones and gnaw away at their soul.  A winter in Antarctica could make or break an officer’s career.  If a cadet could survive their tour down here they would have no problem dealing with life on a starship.  There were plenty of similarities between Antarctica and life on a starship, the isolation, the self-contained nature of life, and the necessity to cooperate with your crewmates regardless of who and what you are.

The best part, Jim thought, was the view of the stars.  He understood the usefulness of the training, but he wasn’t so sure it would be worth it if he couldn’t see the stars.  They were so clear and bright down here.  There was no light pollution to hide them, giving Jim Kirk and his fellow cadets the best seat on earth to see them.  Seeing the stars made this cold a depressing part of his training worth it.  Here he could see them in all of their glory and remember just what he was training for.

Antarctica may be cold, dark, and depressing, but the sky over head was beautiful.  The sky full of stars that Jim would someday be soaring through.  When he was done here, done with all of his training, he would be allowed to travel up amongst those glorious stars.  He would finally get to see them first hand.  He would travel among them and learn all of their secrets.  He would see their light first hand.  On the days he felt particularly sad, the days the cold and loneliness ate away at him until he thought that perhaps what was left of his spirit would be lost in the wind.  Jim would look up at the sky.  This simple act would remind him of his goals.  This phenomenal view could remind him of all his dreams, it could remind him of what he was doing this all for.  Someday he would be up there in his own ship, lost amongst those glorious lights in the sky.

The stars were beautiful.

**Author's Note:**

> The documentary that inspired this was called A Year on the Ice. It's on Netflix if you're interested. 
> 
> If you want to come talk Star Trek with me you can find me at wonderlandflamingo.tumblr.com


End file.
